Correcting Your Credit Report

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Even if you are scrupulous about paying your bills, mistakes can crop up in your credit reports and lower your FICO score. A common mistake is for your credit report to list credit accounts that belong to a stranger or a relative with the same last name as yours.  Resolved disputes with a creditor may still turn up on your record. Ancient accounts you never actually got around to closing may still be there making it look as if you have too many open lines of credit. Each credit bureau has its own directions for fixing mistakes and you need to make sure all three reports are correct. Lower scores mean higher interest rates and fewer loan choices.

Don’t Fall for Phishing

There’s one crucial caveat when it comes to buying credit reports and FICO scores online – never reply to an email that asks you for sensitive financial information such as bank account numbers, mother’s maiden name, computer passwords, PIN codes or your Social Security number. Even if the email links to a site that looks as if it belongs to a legitimate financial company. The logos look right, the slogans are there and practically everything looks legit. But it’s not legit at all because the linked site is run by con artists who take the information people supply and use it to steal from their accounts. It is safe to put information in legitimate websites that are run by banks and credit reporting companies but always type in the website addresses yourself.

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